The building industry is very dynamic in that new and improved methods and tools are continuously being developed to meet the challenge of building high quality, attractive finished buildings with speed, accuracy and economy.
The construction industry has experienced various trends and styles over time, and currently, the use of rounded corners, also known as bull-nose corners have become very popular. When interior trim such as chair-molding, wainscotting, crown molding and baseboard are to be installed, the carpenter is met with the challenge of quickly and accurately determining the length of trim to cut. Bull nosed or rounded corners present a particular challenge since the trim to be cut is invariable essentially straight, and the corner to be trimmed is rounded. A series of sectional pieces of trim must be constructed to fit snugly against the rounded corner. The present invention provides a device which allows the carpenter to determine the length of trim to be cut with ease, accuracy and efficiency. Use of the present invention eliminates the likelihood of unsightly gaps in constructing trim for bull nose corners. Aligning and assembling the bull nose corner end molding piece with the other molding pieces involves significant precision and laborious and time-consuming measurement and cutting to ensure that the pieces fit together properly.
Of the many marking and measuring tools known to exist, only one was found which is specifically adapted for marking trim location for a bull-nose corner. That patent, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,154 to Scharf describes a Bull Nose Corner Marking Apparatus which functions in a very different manner than the invention of the present invention. The device of Scharf resembles a carpenter's square, which describes the essentially right angle of the corner to be trimmed. In the device of Scharf, the trim is placed against the wall, and the device is placed on top of the edge of the trim, and the TRIM is marked along an inset edge of the device. The device of the present invention, in contrast, is designed to make a mark on the WALL. If the device of Scharf were to be used to place marks on walls, the marks would be necessarily be drawn “free-hand,” and therefore likely not parallel. The Scharf device also would be prone to non-level positions, since it is essentially flat and describes a plane. Additionally, it would be necessary for the user to hold the device in the correct position with one hand, while making marks with the other.
The present invention, by contrast, although requiring two hands, assures the position of level, straight and parallel marks because it fits snugly against the corner and provides extended marking guides. The present invention is also an improvement over the Scharf device because it is more lightweight and faster and easier to use.
The present invention provides an improved device and method for marking the location of trim for bull-nose and rounded corners.